NetLogo Web requires JavaScript in order to run a model, but it does not appear to be working. Please check your browser settings to ensure this site can use JavaScript, or contact your administrator if you are using a managed computer.
SG = Grain Sorghum

Model Information

FEWture Farms is the Food-Energy-Water Calculator assembled by Jirapat (Mos) Phetheet – a Master’s student and Professor Mary C. Hill from Department of Geology, the University of Kansas.

The calculation is divided into two parts. The first part is crop calculation using a crop model called Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) which was developed by Jones et al., 2003 from the University of Florida. The other is the FEWture Farms conducted using NetLogo agent-based modeling software by Uri Wilensky, 1999.

The location considered is the area around Garden City in Finney County, Kansas. FEWture Farms is developed and tested using data from the southern High Plains aquifer (HPA), where groundwater has been decreasing at an alarming rate these days. Fortunately, Kansas is well positioned in the nation’s wind belt that has access to a robust renewable energy source (Anderson et al., 2012). Economically, Kansas is the second leading state, with about 50% of the electricity sold in the state being met by wind (Wiser and Bolinger, 2018).

FEWture Farms is an interactive tool integrating agriculture, energy, and water components; calculating farm income; as well as visualizing results in the NetLogo Web app.

Map showing the estimated usable lifetime of the High Plains Aquifer in Kansas

Map showing the average wind speed at 80m in the continential United States

Input data
Some input data in this model is “hard-coded,” meaning that the user cannot change these input values. These values correspond to eight input files in comma-separated values (.csv) format available for reference on the FEWture_Farms Github repository in the “netlogo” folder. The desktop app, also available on the FEWture_Farms Github repository, can run custom input files. Details can be found in the model notes associated with that file. The adapted model file, which is compatible with Netlogo Web, is available in that repository within the “NetlogoWeb” folder.

Input values (e.g., precipitation and crop price) were taken from historical data between 2008 and 2017. Besides, they were calculated from DSSAT (e.g., yield and irrigation) using the same dataset (1-4) and global climate models (GCMs) (5-8). The input files listed below are separated into four major crop types in Kansas which are corn, wheat, soybean, and milo (grain sorghum).

These files are composed of a number of columns which column headers are not well-defined. Here is a detailed explanation of those values.

Unit conversion

Initialize parameters
FEWture Farms allows users to specify parameters for their own simulation in the NetLogo’s interface. It is designed to define those numbers easily by using input box, slider, and chooser. Each parameter is described below.

Model function
Agriculture
Crop simulations in FEWture Farms are from simulated data from DSSAT. Results from DSSAT were based on both historical weather data from 2008 to 2017 and statistically downscaled Global Climate Models (GCMs) data under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. Users have to select one of the future processes under Climate Scenario section. There are 4 options including (1) Repeat Historical, (2) Wetter Years, (3) Dryer Years, and (4) Impose T, P, & S Changes. Climate Projection scenario is the only one option applying GCM data for the projection.

IRRIGATED FARMING
FEWture Farms assumes that water for irrigation is all from groundwater. The model simulates irrigated farmland if the water is available and the aquifer thickness is not less than a minimum aquifer thickness defined by users.

DRYLAND FARMING
During the simulation, groundwater is being consumed to supply water through the system. When the aquifer thickness is below a minimum aquifer thickness, the model stops irrigating and then applies dryland farming in the system. During dryland farming, the groundwater level rises due to the recharge rate.

Energy
This recent version of FEWture Farms assumes that installation cost spreads over 30 years. Users can define the number of solar panels and wind turbines in the interface under Energy section. A default wind turbine power is set at 2 megawatts.

EQUATIONS:

Default values are in Appendix C.
Contact: Bob Johnson (bobjohnson@centurylink.net), Earnie Lehman (earnielehman@gmail.com), and Hongyu Wu (hongyuwu@ksu.edu)
For more information see:

Water
SURFACE WATER

EQUATIONS:
N_field = 10% × N_applied × N_acres / 1.12 -> Accumulated until moved
N_stream = ∑time (N_field) -> Moved in wet or extremely wet years

GROUNDWATER

EQUATIONS:
Step 1: Reported gw use (ft) = [0.114 * DSSAT water use (ft)] + 0.211
Step 2: Average annual water-level change (ft) = [-32.386 * Reported gw use (ft)] + 8.001
Contact: Blake B. Wilson KGS (bwilson@kgs.ku.edu)
For more information see:



Output displays
Start the simulation

  1. Set model options (see “Initialize parameters”)
  2. Click Setup
  3. Click Go to run the entire simulation or click Go once to advance the simulation one time step.

Export Data
The “Export data” button below the model illustration allows users to export both model user inputs and results. The results specific to each graph will be downloaded as separate csv files. The first 30 or so lines of these files contain information about Netlogo model setup specifics that most users can ignore. The rest of these files contain x and y values corresponding to the graphical outputs in the web interface (x being years, starting at year 0 of the simulation) along with color values from the graph and a “pen down” variable that denotes whether that point appears on the graph.

References
Anderson, A.C., Gibson, B., White, S.W., & Hagedorn, L. (2012). The Economic Benefits of Kansas Wind Energy. Retrieved from https://www.renewableenergylawinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/165/2012/11/Kansas-Wind-Report.pdf

Jones, J.W, Hoogenboom, G., Porter, C., Boote, K., Batchelor, W., Hunt, L., … Ritchie, J. (2003). The DSSAT cropping system model. European Journal of Agronomy, 18(3–4), 235–265. doi:10.1016/S1161-0301(02)00107-7.

Kansas Geological Survey (KGS). (2007). Estimated Usable Lifetime for the High Plains Aquifer in Kansas, available at: http://www.kgs.ku.edu/HighPlains/maps/index.shtml.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). (2011). United States – Annual Average Wind Speed at 80 m., available at: https://www.nrel.gov/gis/wind.html.

Phetheet, J., M. C. Hill, R. W. Barron, B. J. Gray, H. Wu, V. Amanor-Boadu, W. Heger, I. Kisekka, B. Golden and M. W. Rossi (2021). Relating agriculture, energy, and water decisions to farm incomes and climate projections using two freeware programs, FEWCalc and DSSAT. Agricultural Systems 193. doi: 10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103222.

Phetheet, J., M. C. Hill, R. W. Barron, M. W. Rossi, V. Amanor-Boadu, H. Wu and I. Kisekka (2021). "Consequences of climate change on food-energy-water systems in arid regions without agricultural adaptation, analyzed using FEWCalc and DSSAT." Resources, Conservation and Recycling 168. Doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105309.

Whittemore, D.O., Butler, J.J., & Wilson, B.B. (2016). Assessing the major drivers of water-level declines: new insights into the future of heavily stressed aquifers.

Hydrological Sciences Journal, 61(1), 134-145. doi:10.1080/02626667.2014.959958.